Fortnite's Thanos mode is almost over, claim the gauntlet while you can

Fortnite's ready to bid farewell to Thanos but more surprises are on the way

If you haven't had a chance to turn into Thanos and blast fools with your power beam yet, get on that: Epic has confirmed that Fortnite's Infinity Gauntlet Limited Time Mashup will end on Tuesday, May 15. The special mode went live on May 8, giving players a week to try out the unlikely crossover that adds a powerful twist to the usual, everybody-for-themselves Battle Royale proceedings. Just as importantly, it's also your last chance to enjoy Fortnite's dancing Thanos jubilation.

The Infinity Gauntlet Limited Time Mashup ends tomorrow...Wield the Gauntlet one last time. pic.twitter.com/003JNY4eQ9May 14, 2018

Here's a quick summary of how it works: every round of the Infinity Gauntlet Limited Time Mashup mode begins like normal, until a meteor streaks down from the sky (not that meteor) with the Infinity Gauntlet inside. Whichever player reaches and uses the gauntlet first transforms into Thanos, then shoots back into the sky for another quick landing. Then they can use Thanos' powerful punch, jumping slam attack, and beam to take out players, each kill replenishing their beefed-up shields (but not their HP); if Thanos gets taken out, he'll drop the gauntlet on the spot and the race to claim it will begin again. Otherwise, the circles and steady progression from 100-to-1 remain roughly the same.

Epic didn't say when on Tuesday that the Thanos mode will be taken out of the rotation. However, the game will be pulled offline for the Fortnite 4.2 update starting at 1am PDT / 4am EDT / 9am BST on Tuesday - I'd expect that's when Thanos will bust his last move.

As a consolation prize, the announcement post that Epic made on Reddit for the downtime has some tantalizing teasers: "A new week, a new patch! v4.2 is gliding in May 15, with downtime beginning at 4am ET (08:00 GMT). Burst onto the battlefield, tomorrow." Epic typically chooses its words pretty carefully in posts like these, so… new gliders? And who needs a Mad Titan when we could finally have some fresh new burst assault rifles?